Your Friend's The First One There
by CharlotteXox
Summary: It's the summer before their 8th grade year, and Evan and Patrice are still going strong. When Archie starts to feel like the third-wheel, he finds a girl of his own. But what happens when this girl starts to break Evan and Patrice apart? Drama!
1. The Not So Secret Date

**I've been thinking for weeks about what I should write about! After reading everyone else's 13 stories, I felt like every idea had already been used before. But then I thought of this! It's a Patrice & Evan story, but POVs will switch around to different characters. This chapter takes place during the Summer leading into the kid's 8th grade year. Sorry if this chapter is a little boring, I have to set everything up, so not a lot happens. I promise it will get so much better though! Enjoy & please review!  
>Xoxo,<br>~Charlotte  
>Ps- A special thank you to cadewelentine1313 for encouraging me to write this! You should read her stories, they're amazing :]<strong>

*Patrice's POV*

Not much had changed since that day Brett punched Evan in the nose 8 months ago. Evan and I are going strong, Brett and Lucy are surprisingly still together, and Archie and his Star Wars DVDs are very happy together. I was happier than I had ever been since I now had Evan Goldman all to myself, but I felt really bad for Archie. He'd been the dreaded third wheel for 8 months now. Evan and I felt like if we wanted to go somewhere, it was our duty to invite Archie to come along, since Archie and I have been best friends since Preschool. We always hoped that he would refuse the offer, realizing that Evan and I wanted to be alone sometimes, but he never did. And this time, I was determined to keep our date a complete secret from him.

"Come on, Evan, please?" I begged, latching onto his arm. No response. "Pleeeeeeeease?" I repeated.

"I dunno, Patrice..."

"Well why not?" I stomped my foot like a 4 year old.

"I just feel like if we try to go to the movies without Archie, he'll find out somehow and get really upset."

"Yeah, but if we do tell him, then he'll want to tag along and sit right in between us. And then we can't do this," I stood up on my tippy toes and kissed him sweetly. I felt him smile and kiss me back. He pulled away and took my hands in his.

"There is no way we're telling Archie." He said, and I smiled. Normally I would feel bad leaving Archie out, but I actually don't think Evan and I had gone anywhere alone before, besides his or my house. And that's pretty bad.

Later that afternoon, Evan's mom drove us to the movies. Whenever we were in the car with one of our parents, we played a little game. Whoever could lean over and give the other the most pecks on the cheek, without the parent noticing, won. But of course when the parent did notice... It was really uncomfortable. I was usually pretty good at it though, and I won this time. When we hopped out of the car at the movie theater, I was sure to mock Evan with a quick, "Ha, ha, and HA!" since he always thought he could beat me.

When we walked over to the box office, we realized that the movie we were going to see didn't start for another 2 hours.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Well, we could go to the diner. You hungry?"

I shrugged. "I could be."

He laughed. "Why is that always your answer?"

"Because it works for everything!"

*Evan's POV*

We walked hand in hand to the diner since it was just down the street. God, she looked beautiful. I kept sneaking glances at her since she hates when I stare. Everything about her was perfect in an imperfect sort of way. Meaning, all of her imperfections, like the freckles that covered her nose and her unusually square teeth, were somehow perfect.

After we sat down at the diner, we started talking. Right in the middle of me telling her about Brett's latest douche baggery move, Patrice slowly started leaning to her left, looking straight behind me. She raised an eyebrow and bit her lip. Before I could even turn to look behind me, Patrice grabbed my hand and pulled me over by the restrooms.

"Did you see that?" she asked me frantically.

"No, what happened?"

"Archie's here! With a girl!"

"No way. Are you sure it's Archie?"

"Positive."

"Well maybe she's his... Nurse?"

Patrice shook her head, "Nope, they were laughing and being totally flirtatious."

"Well, should we go talk to them?"

Patrice squinted her eyes, looked up, and bit her bottom lip. She always did this when she was thinking, and it was adorable. "Let's go," she finally said, and we walked over to Archie's table.

"Hey, Archie," Patrice was the first to speak.

"Oh, hello, earthlings," he replied with a strange hand motion.

"So who's your friend?" I asked rather quickly. Patrice pinched my arm, signaling that it was too soon to ask that.

"Oh," he said, "This is Brianna, AKA The Dragon Goddess!" The two shared a laugh, and Patrice and I exchanged a look of confusion. The "Dragon Goddess" had dirty blonde hair with several green streaks in it. Her hair was tied up in two high pigtails wrapped with gold ribbon, making her look like she was about 6 years old. She wasn't bad looking though, especially for Archie.

"Nice to meet you," Patrice said. "I'm Patrice, and this is Evan. We're Archie's friends."

"Oh, well, nice to meet you guys!" she said enthusiastically.

"So, umm, how do you two know each other?" I asked.

"We met at the comic book convention!" Archie said excitedly, then continued, "Well, nice talking to you guys but Brianna and I are sort of on a date."

"A... A..." Patrice stuttered, "A date?" she finally spit out.

"Uh-huh."

"Right... Will you excuse us for a minute?"

"Uhh, well I sort of asked you to leave, so yes."

Patrice flashed them a quick smile, then grabbed my hand and lead me back to our table. We sat down again.

"A date? Archie," she said. "Our Archie, on a real date?"

"Yeah, there has to be something wrong with that girl." Patrice gave me a death glare. "That's not what I meant!" she said. "It's just weird that Archie has never been interested in anyone besides Kendra, and now out of nowhere he's on a date. And she looks normal, it doesn't seem like she has any terminal illnesses."

"But it's a good thing, right? I mean, now we won't have to worry about him always being around us."

"True," she smiled, then I leaned over and kissed her across the table. All of the sudden, we heard someone yell and we quickly broke apart. "Hey, guys!" Oh no. It was Archie. "We can do that too, you know!" I heard Brianna giggle, and then Archie kissed her. He KISSED her! Both lips! Patrice and I, mouths agape, looked at each other. This was going to take some getting used to.

**And that's the end of chapter 1! As I said, sorry it was pretty boring. I wanted the first chapter to sort of set things up, so not much happened. I promise the next chapter will be much more exciting! Please review & let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading! :]**


	2. Disaster

**I totally forgot to do a disclaimer at the beginning of chapter 1, so here it is:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Patrice, Evan, Archie, or anything 13!**

**Enjoy chapter 2!**

**Xoxo,**

**~Charlotte**

*Patrice's POV*

I have to admit, it was weird seeing my best friend on a date, let alone kissing. I guess this is how he felt with me and Evan… Oops. And as weird as this may sound, I already hated Brianna (or 'The Goddess of Dragons', or whatever). She gave off a vibe that was completely fake, and I was scared that she was using Archie. For what exactly, I had no idea, but there was definitely something suspicious about her.

About a half an hour later, Brianna helped Archie up on his crutches, and they walked (well, Archie more like hobbled) toward us.

"Hey, guys," he said, approaching our table. "We're heading over to the movies to see _Backstabbed & Buried_. Wanna come with?"

"Oh," Evan spoke, "We were actually going to see that too." So we all walked to the theater together, and by the time we got our tickets, it was almost time for the movie to start. We went in and sat down, Archie and Brianna in one row, and Evan and I right behind them two rows back. There were still previews playing, so I leaned forward and whispered to Archie.

"Arch!"

"What do you want?" he replied, sounding rather annoyed like I was his mother or something.

"Be careful, alright?"

"Uhh, yeah, sure… Whatever." Then he turned back to Brianna and they continued with their previous conversation. I could tell that he had no idea what I was talking about. I was trying to tell him to be cautious with this girl that he hardly knew, but he had no interest in taking my advice. Well, I tried.

The minute the movie started, I was already scared out of my mind. For some reason, I always let Evan pick the movie we saw, and for some reason he always picked scary ones. I kinda liked it though, because every time I got scared, he could feel me tense up, and he would either hold me tighter or give me a quick kiss to let me know that he was there. Sometimes I even faked being scared just to get an extra kiss. Hey, it worked!

As the movie got more intense, Evan squeezed my hand tighter. I was so preoccupied with the blood onscreen, that I kept forgetting to look down to check on Archie. Gosh darn it. All of the sudden, this guy started ripping apart a teenage girl with a crowbar, and Evan quickly turned my head and gave me a long kiss, which forced me to calm down a little. Out of nowhere, I felt something hit the side of my face, and Evan and I separated. I looked around to see what hit me, and noticed Archie and Brianna laughing their heads off. "Get a room, you animals!" Archie wailed, still laughing. I immaturely stuck my tongue out at him, and he returned the gesture. It turned out that he had thrown a bag of Skittles at me… Nice. I was willing to bet it was Brianna's idea. I swear, she's crazy!

After the movie was over, my mom came and picked up all four of us. And the whole ride home, guess who was canoodling in the backseat? Archie and the freaky girl. My mom dropped Brianna off with Archie at his house, and I went back with Evan to his house. Right when we walked in the door, I yelled, "She's crazy!"

"Whoa there, who's crazy?"

"The dragon girl!"

"Brianna?"

"No, the other one," I said sarcastically, "Yes, Brianna!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Evan said, sitting down on the couch. I was quiet for a minute, trying to calm down, then I went over and sat next to Evan.

"Why is she crazy?" He asked, wrapping his arm around me.

I rested my head in his lap and looked up at him. "She's trying to sabotage Archie," I said.

"How do you know?"

"Well… I don't. But I can already tell that she's bad news."

"Trice, you can't make assumptions about people you hardly know. Her and Archie seem really happy together, and Archie has never been with a girl before."

"I know, I know… But what if she really is evil?"

He laughed. "We'll deal with that when it happens."

I squeezed my eyes shut and made a face. Evan poked my stomach, causing me to jump.

"You know I hate it when you do that," I said.

"But you still like me."

"For some reason, yes, I do." We both smiled and then he gave me a kiss.

**Alllllllrighty! Chapter 2 is done. I hope it was more interesting than the first chapter! Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Truth Or Dare?

**Here's chapter 3! Enjoy :]**

**Xoxo,**

**~Charlotte**

*Evan's POV*

The next night, Patrice and I went over to Archie's house in our pajamas, just for fun. By the time we got there, Brianna had already made herself comfortable on the couch. And from the second we walked in the door, Patrice was staring down Brianna with a really uncomfortable intensity. I honestly didn't know why Patrice hated her so much. She was actually kind of hot! But since Patrice was my girlfriend, I had to pretend that I hated her too, or she would probably slap me. And that girl is a lot stronger than you may think.

"Heyyy, Arch," Patrice said, plopping down on the couch. "So, should we watch a movie or something?"

Brianna jumped up. "No, let's play truth or dare!"

Patrice's eyes widened. "Or we could watch a movie! Uhhh, how about _Breakfast at Tiffany's_?"

"Trice, I don't believe you're actually _scared_ to play truth or dare?" Archie mocked, raising an eyebrow. Patrice looked really nervous.

"Uhh, yeah, let's just watch a movie!" I jumped in.

"Oh, look! Evan's scared too!" Brianna said. "I do believe we have the dream-team over here," she said sarcastically, motioning to Patrice and I. Wow, I felt like I was in 4th grade again.

"Fine," Partice said, "We can play truth or dare. But nothing too ridiculous."

"We'll see about that!" Brianna smiled. "Archie, you go first."

"Okay," he began. "Umm… Patrice! Truth or dare?"

She hesitated. "Truth, I guess."

"When was your first kiss and who was it with?" Wow, Archie… What a girly question.

"Ughh, do I have to answer that?" Partice whined.

"Yep," Archie said, popping the "p".

Patrice sighed. "It was with Evan..." She paused and looked down. "Eight months ago." Brianna and Archie looked at each other, then they both started cracking up. "Oh, yeah, like either of you kissed someone before last year!" She said in her defense, and I wrapped my arm around her empathetically.

"Okay, okay, Patrice it's your turn," I said, trying to make the other two shut up.

"Okay," she said, "Uhhh… Evan, truth or dare?"

"Dare," I replied.

"Kiss me."

"That's not a dare."

"It is too!"

"No it's not! Archie, is there a rulebook or something?"

"Well, pretty much anything goes so… Kiss her," he said.

I smiled. "Well, I'm getting off easy then," Then I quickly kissed her. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Your turn, Ev," she said.

"Archie," I said, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"How exactly did you and Brianna meet?"

He smiled. "Well, it was at the comic book convention, and I was at the Spider-Man booth, right? And this guy was trying to sell me a 1972 which was clearly a 1985! I mean, who does that?"

"I know, right!" Brianna interrupted. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who would be into comics, but alright.

"Anyway," Archie continued, "This guy was mixed up, so we ended up arguing. Then Brianna walked over and backed me up." He turned to Brianna and they shared a deep kiss. Patrice and I both turned to each other and made gagging motions. After they finally separated, Archie stood up. "My turn," he said. "Brianna, truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

"Go kiss Evan."

"What?" Patrice and I said at the same time.

"Dude!" I said. "Why would you dare your girlfriend to kiss me?"

"The whole fun of the game is making the dares something that the person doesn't want to do. And Brianna obviously doesn't want to kiss you. I mean, she has me, what more could she want?"

There was a pause.

"Uh-uh, noooo way," Patrice sat on my lap and put her arms out to the side, creating a sort of barrier.

"Sorry, Trice, but she has to do it."

"Well they're not doing it in front of me!"

"Okay," I said. "Uhhh, I guess we could go outside." Patrice rolled her eyes. I was gonna kill Archie for this!

"Actually, that's worse," Patrice decided. "Just do it here, but make it quick . And it better be just a little peck!" She threatened.

Brianna sighed, pulled herself up off the couch, and sat down next to me. She leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the lips.

"There, you happy?" Brianna asked Archie, giggling.

"Nope!" Patrice said, then walked over to me and sat back on my lap.

We decided not to play anymore truth or dare, so we played some board games, watched some movies, and somewhere along the way we all fell asleep on the floor, laying on each other's stomachs.

**And, done! Sorry my chapters always end so weird… Haha, I'm not good at that! Please review with and comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading! :]**


	4. A Bad Feeling About This Girl

**New chapter with draaaaama! Ooooh… Enjoy! **

**Xoxo,**

**~Charlotte**

*Patrice's POV*

I was the first to wake up the next morning. We were all laying on the floor, kind of in a pile.

"Evan," I whispered, rolling over and patting his stomach. He twitched a little. "Evan, wake up!"

He shut his eyes tighter, then stretched his arms above his head and opened his eyes. "Oh, good morning," he said smiling, then leaned in towards me. I pushed him away.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I don't want you kissing me with morning breath! Gross," I said, scrunching my face.

"Fine." He turned the other way, then whipped his head back around and gave me a quick peck before I could stop him.

"Eww!" I said, wiping my mouth. He just laughed at me.

A few minutes later, Archie woke up. "Morning, guys," he said, reaching for his crutches and pulling himself up off the floor. I leaned to the side and looked at Brianna. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing at a steady pace. Good. Now if she could only stay like that forever…

Archie interrupted my thoughts. "So are you guys hungry?" But before I could answer, Brianna jumped up.

"I am!" She squealed. Was she seriously pretending to be asleep? What a weirdo.

"Uhh, actually Evan and I have to go," I said, not wanting to be around Brianna any longer than I had to.

Evan looked at me, "No we don't, you-"

"Yes we do!" I interrupted. "Thanks for having us over Archie, bye Brianna!" Then I grabbed Evan's hand and dragged him out the door.

"Patrice, we're in our pajamas!"

"Oh, who are you worried about impressing, Mrs. Coffin?"

Mrs. Coffin was our neighbor and my fifth grade teacher. She was insane and her name sounded like a joke, considering she was about 340 years old.

"True," Evan said. "So why were you so anxious to leave?"

"Brianna woke up."

Evan stopped walking and turned my body to face his. "Okay seriously, Trice, you need to stop acting like Brianna is Lucy or something. You barely know her! What did she do to make you hate her so much? And why are you always so judgmental of people?" He started yelling. He never yelled at me.

"Sh-sh-she," I stuttered. He looked really mad. "She kissed you."

He rolled his eyes. "No, you hated her before that! You always pick out random people and just decide that you hate them. There aren't many things I don't like about you, but that's something I **hate**!" I had never seen him this upset at me before.

"Wait, why are you sticking up for her?" I snapped right back.

"Because she didn't do anything!"

"Evan, listen. I can tell when people are fake. And I have a really bad feeling that Brianna is!"

"Patrice, you're not God. You can't tell automatically tell who is a good or bad person!"

"I just-"

"Forget it." He turned around and started to walk away.

"So you're gonna be mad at me for saying that I think Brianna is a bad person?" I called after him. "I'm just trying to protect Archie!"

He stopped and I heard him sigh. He turned around and walked back over to me. "Patrice, tell me this: Do you _really_ think that Brianna is using Archie?"

"Yes. A girl like that doesn't just go for… An Archie."

"Okay, well… You haven't convinced me of anything yet. But I think we should plan some more double-dates with them so we can get to know her better. And umm… I'm sorry for yelling at you like that."

I smiled and he pulled me into a hug... On the sidewalk. In our pajamas. I didn't mind though. He kissed the top of my head, and we walked hand in hand back to our houses. I went to mine and Evan went to his so we could get dressed.

Afterwards, Evan came to my house and we called Archie.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey, Arch!" Evan and I said at the same time.

"You're on speaker with me and Evan," I said.

"Oh, what's up, Evtrice?" Evan and I looked at each other.

"_Evtrice_?"

"You're so corny, Archie," I said, laughing. "Anyway, do you have any plans with Brianna tonight?"

"Yeah, we were gonna go to the diner and then come back to my house to watch a movie. Why?"

"Mind if we join you?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, you guys can come. We'll meet you there at 7."

"Sounds good," I said. "Bye Arch!"

Little did we know, this night was going to turn into a disaster.

**Ooooh, what's gonna happen? Stay tuned! Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading!**

**Ps- Sorry this chapter was so short! The next one will be a lot longer :)  
><strong>


	5. Double Date

**Chapter 5! Woooop! Get ready for some more drama!**

**Xoxo,**

**~Charlotte  
><strong>

*Evan's POV*

Patrice and I met Archie and Brianna at the diner at 7. Brianna looked hot! How did ARCHIE get HER? Not that I don't like Patrice, but Brianna isn't the type of girl who would even hang out with me, let alone date Archie.

When the four of us sat down, Patrice started looking in all different directions, trying not to make eye contact with Brianna who was sitting right across from her. There was a long pause before anyone spoke.

"So..." I said, breaking the silence.

"So!" Brianna responded, tilting her head to the side and smiling. She really didn't talk much, but when she did, she managed to make every word sound like a cheer.

After we ordered our food, we started talking about a bunch of different things. And anytime Brianna would turn her head even slightly in my direction, Patrice would grab my shoulder and turn my body to face hers, then start rambling on about something totally off topic. It really was not discrete at all. I felt bad for yelling at Patrice earlier, but everything I said was true. You would expect someone like her (a "geek") to not be judgmental of people. But Patrice hated anyone who was considered cool. It made no sense. I guess she thought everyone who was cool was like Lucy, or-?

"So, Evan, how did you and Patrice meet?" Brianna interrupted my thoughts.

"Why do you want to know?" Patrice asked immediately.

"Oh, I was just wondering. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine!" I kicked Patrice's foot under the table.

"Ow!" she yelled.

"What happened?" Archie asked.

"Evan just-!"

"Anyway!" I cut her off, "So long story short, I moved here from New York, and Patrice was the first person I met."

"And we became friends, but once school started, Evan decided that he wanted to be with the 'cool crowd' instead," Patrice continued.

"So I ditched them, but then I realized that I would much rather be friends with them instead of Brett, so I stood up for them in front of everyone."

"And then he got punched in the nose for it," Patrice added. "So after he stood up for us, my hate for him passed, and then-"

"And then I kissed her." I smiled at Patrice and took her hand in mine.

"Yeah, they kissed in front of me. It was disgusting," Archie said.

"Aww, that's so cute though!" Brianna squealed. "So you and Archie have been good friends for a while, huh?" She asked Patrice, taking a sip of her water. Patrice didn't look at Brianna, but she turned to Archie instead.

"Best friends since the first day of preschool," she answered, smiling.

"Yep," Archie started, "Some kid took Patrice's juice box on the playground, and she started crying so I gave her mine!" We all laughed.

"I was only 4!" Patrice said in her defense. "May I remind you of the time Brett took all of your crayons except for the pink one, so you had to color your entire farm pink?"

"Real men like pink!"

"Oh, sure!"

"Well what about when Lucy-" Archie stopped himself before saying anything else. Patrice suddenly stopped laughing and looked down at her hands. Archie knew that talking about Lucy in front of Patrice was a touchy subject, since the two of them used to be best friends. That is, until Lucy totally dissed Patrice in 2nd grade, and she found out that Lucy was just using her. She would act all nice to Patrice, then completely tear her down to everyone when she wasn't around. She was a devious 8 year old.

"Sorry, Trice, I didn't mean to-" Archie began.

"It's fine," Patrice looked up. "Seriously, that was a long time ago."

There was another long pause, and we all just sat stirring our drinks with our straws.

"So, are you guys ready to go?" Brianna asked. "We're gonna go back to Archie's house to watch The Notebook!"

"...The Notebook?" I asked Archie.

"What? It's a quality film!"

We all laughed, then after we paid the check, Archie's mom picked us up. Once we got to Archie's house, his mom said, "Alright, Arch, I have to work the late shift at work tonight. So you kids be good, and no kissing or whatever you do."

"Mom!"

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving! Bye, and have fun! Well, not that much fun, but-"

"MOM!"

"Alright, bye!"

Then she grabbed her keys and left the house.

"I'm sorry about... Her." Archie apologized. "I'll be right back, I'm just gonna go downstairs to get the movie."

"No, you have you're crutches. I'll get it!" Patrice ran down the stairs to get the movie.

*Patrice's POV*

When I got downstairs, I looked for the movie but I didn't see it anywhere.

"Arch, I don't see it!" I called up the stairs.

"Oh, I'll help her!" I heard Brianna squeal. She ran down the stairs.

"Hey, so I looked on the shelf, and-"

"Back off," she said.

"Umm, excuse me?"

"Oh, please! Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about! I know you like Archie."

"Archie's my best friend! I like Evan."

"Liar," she glared at me.

"Okay, first of all, why would I be dating Evan if I was 'in love' with Archie?"

"To cover it up, obviously. Look, I know this little game of yours, and if it doesn't end soon, you're going down."

I was speechless. I couldn't believe this was actually happening! I knew she was evil...

"Might I ask why you're dating Archie? If you really like him, then-"

Brianna laughed. "That's none of your business, is it?"

"What's wrong with you? Archie thinks you're really sweet!"

"I'm sweet to people I like. Evan, Archie, Charlotte, Kendra... Pretty much anyone who's not you."

"You're a jerk! You know you're not going to get away with this, right?"

"Oh, not a problem. If you even THINK about saying a word of this to Archie, it's bye-bye Patrice!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, with one sentence to Archie I can make him hate you forever."

"You know what you are? You're a-"

"Guys! Did you find the movie?" Archie yelled down the stairs.

"Coming, love!" Brianna called back, then grabbed the movie and ran back up the stairs. I rolled my eyes and followed her.

"What took you so long?" Archie asked.

"Oh, Patrice and I were just catching up!" she said, suddenly cheerful again.

Evan looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

"Yep... That's what we were doing," I said flatly. I wanted to pull Evan aside and tell him about what had just happened, but Brianna would know what I was doing. And I didn't know how, but I had to get rid of this girl.

**Ohhhhhhh, snap! What's gonna happen next? Stay tuned :] Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Patrice Was Right

**Chapter 6! More drama ahead!  
>Xoxo,<br>~Charlotte  
><strong>  
><strong>Ps- Thank you to puffyllamaprincess, 13FansForever, &amp; Sophia for your reviews! It means a lot :]<strong>

*Evan's POV*  
>Patrice and Brianna were "catching up"? I didn't believe it. Something was definitely up. Patrice didn't say anything to me about it, so I decided to leave it alone for now.<p>

We all sat down on the couch and watched The Notebook. From the second the movie started, I was making faces. It was torture. Patrice knew that I was miserable, so every time I looked especially uncomfortable, she leaned over and kissed me. By mid-movie we were too busy to even watch. It was great.

"Hey!" Archie threw a pillow at us, forcing us to separate.

"What?" I asked, irritated.

"The movie ended 5 minutes ago," Brianna giggled.

"Oh..." Patrice blushed and slid farther away from me, thoroughly embarrassed. "Well, I actually have to go, and umm... Clean my room," she said. "Evan, come with me!"

"Wha-?"

"Bye, Archie!" She jumped up, grabbed my arm, and pulled me outside.

"Patrice, why do you always do that? If you're trying to be discrete, it's not working," I laughed.

"I know, I know... But I reeeeeeally need to talk to you about something."

"What do you reeeeeeally need to talk to me about?" I mocked her.

"Brianna!"

"Oh yeah, what was that whole 'catching up' thing about?"

"Wait a minute." We walked into Patrice's house. "Mom, I'm home!" she called. "I'll be upstairs!"

"Alright," her mom called back from the kitchen. "Is Evan with you? You know he's not allowed in your room!"

"No, mom, it's just me!" Patrice lied, then we hurried up the stairs.

"Why couldn't we just stay downstairs? You're mom's gonna kill you if she finds out," I said.

Patrice shut the door. "Well yeah, but I don't want her to hear this."

"Alright, what is it?" I sat down on her bed. She told me the whole story of what really happened in the basement.

"Trice, are you sure that's completely accurate? Cause sometimes you-"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Then, wow... She really hates you."

Patrice glared at me. "Thank you, captain obvious!"

"No problem," I grinned.

"It's not funny!" she smacked my arm. "Archie is totally blindsided by her!"

"I don't understand why she thinks you like Archie." I paused. "...You don't, do you?"

"Of course not! Maybe it was the whole 'best friends since preschool' thing? Or maybe she doesn't think that at all, but she just wants to have something against me?"

I looked at her and shrugged.

"Ughhhh!" She fell face first onto her bed. The sound of her voice was muffled by the pillow she had her head buried in. "Why me?"

"Maybe it's because you're so much prettier than her."

Patrice lifted her head up off of the pillow and smiled. "Thanks, Ev."

I smiled back. "Well, it's like 11:30, so I should probably get home before my mom freaks out. We'll talk more tomorrow, kay?"

"Okay," she said, then snuck me back down the front stairs.

"Bye," she whispered.

I gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Bye," I whispered back, then I quietly shut the door behind me and walked home.

The next day, Patrice had to help with an orientation at school since the first day was only a week away. She was out all day so I didn't get to talk to her.

At around 8pm, my mom and Pam left to work the night shift at their workplace, so I was bored and alone. About 30 minutes later, the doorbell rang, and I jumped up to answer it.

When I opened the door, I raised my eyebrows.

"Brianna?"

"Hey, Evan!" she said enthusiastically, then invited herself in.

"Uhh, hi there..." I said, completely confused.

"So!"

"So."

"I need to ask you something," she said, sitting down on the couch.

"Alright, shoot," I said, sitting across from her.

"What would you do in a situation where you REALLY like someone, and you know that they kinda like you, but you're not sure if they REALLY like you back?" She sounded so innocent. Very different from how Patrice described her... Maybe she was bipolar.

"Are you talking about Archie?" I asked.

She looked at me and nodded.

"Not to be rude, but why are you coming to ME for relationship advice?"

"Well, I just moved here like a month ago, so I haven't made any friends yet. You know, besides Archie."

"Okay, well... I guess in that situation, I would just go for it," I said.

"'Go for it'?" she repeated.

"Yeah. I don't know why you're asking though. I'm pretty sure Archie likes you waaaaay more than you like him."

"You really think so?" she asked, perking her head up.

"Definitely," I said.

"Thank you," she said, then walked over to me. "Hug?"

"Oh, uhh, sure," I stood up and hugged her... It was uncomfortable. I pulled away, and almost immediately Brianna pulled me back. But this time, it wasn't a hug. She grabbed my shoulders and pressed her lips against mine. At first I was shocked. And I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't stop her. I didn't kiss her back, but I didn't stop her. I guess my hormones got the better of me. And I regretted it more than anything. All of the sudden I heard a gasp. I pulled away from Brianna, and looked behind me. And there was Patrice, her mouth open, hand on the front doorknob, and tears already streaming down her face. I immediately felt the guilt pour through me. Before I could even open my mouth, Patrice was out the door running home. It seriously felt like a scene from a terribly played out movie. But it was awful.

"Oh my god..." I said out loud, my eyes still glued to the open door. "What did I just do?"

"Ahhh, you were too good for her anyway," Brianna said, leaning in again. I pushed her away.

"No way," I said. "You know, you're really messed up!"

"What? You didn't stop me."

"Yeah, worst mistake I ever made! Just leave before I completely loose it."

"What are you gonna do, hit me?"

"Just GET OUT!" ...I lost it. I had to physically PUSH Brianna out the door to get her to leave. Once she was outside, she turned back around.

"Patrice is a bitch," she said as if it were nothing.

Now I REALLY lost it. "Don't you EVER call her that!"

"Oh, yeah... You must think sooooo highly of her! You know, seeing as you just CHEATED on her."

All I did was slam the door in her face. But man, did I have words for her...

I was beyond upset. I had things with Patrice... I didn't deserve her after what I had just done, but I needed her. And it wasn't going to be easy, but I had to get her back.

**Ohhhhhhhh no! Did you see that coming? Girl's on the crazy train! If you thought this chapter was drama-filled, just wait for chapter 7! Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading! :]**


	7. What Hurts the Most

**Here's chapter 7! Thank you so much for the reviews. They really mean a lot! :]**

**Xoxo,**

**~Charlotte**

*Patrice's POV*

I ran home with tears in my eyes. How could he do this to me? I know he's been a jerk before, but I really thought he had changed. But i guess not. I kept trying to tell myself that Brianna had moved in on him and forced him into the kiss, but even if that was true, I could clearly see that Evan was making no effort to stop her. And that really hurt.

When I got home, I slammed the front door and collapsed right there in the hallway. I couldn't stop crying. I felt like I was being a little too dramatic, but I couldn't help it. The last conversation I had with Evan was about how horrible Brianna was. It made no sense how, after all that, he went and kissed her!

"Patrice?" I heard my mom say as she rushed over to me. "Patrice, honey, what's wrong?" She knelt next to me and rubbed my back. I lifted my head off the ground.

"I-I," I sobbed, "I h-hate her, mom! I h-hate her!" then I dropped my head back onto the floor.

"Patrice! You don't hate anyone!"

"Y-yes I do!" I said, this time not bothering to lift my head up.

"Who?"

"Bri-Bri-" I could barely say her name. She disgusted me. "Brianna!" I sobbed harder.

"Oh, you mean that sweet blonde girl? She came by here earlier to ask where Evan lives. Patrice, she's totally innocent!"

I jerked up as fast as I could. "Mom, Y-YOU gave her E-Evan's address?"

"Well, sure, why not?"

I couldn't even answer. I just got up and ran straight my room. Knowing that the incident could have easily been prevented made me feel so much worse.

Later that night, after I had calmed down a little, I went back downstairs and told my mom everything. It was weird talking to her like she was my best friend, but right now she was the only one I had. We spent the rest of the night talking, eating, watching movies... Whatever kept Evan off my mind. I half expected him to burst through the door with some lame excuse, begging for my forgiveness, but he never did. And I actually didn't mind. As dorky as it sounds, I had so much fun hanging out with my mom, that by the end of the night I was barely even thinking about Evan.

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs. My mom was still asleep, so I decided to read the rest of our summer reading book for school. Right when I made myself comfortable on the couch, the doorbell rang. "Oooh!" I thought. "I bet that's the documentary of The Worlds Fair that I ordered!" I immediately jumped up to open the door. But as quickly as I opened it, I shut it again. I leaned my back against the now closed door and rolled my eyes. Evan... Evan, Evan, Evan. Did he really think that he could just show up at my door and I would talk to him? That's hilarious.

Even after I slammed the door in his face, he continued knocking. And shouting things like:

"Patrice, I'm sorry!"

"I have something to say!"

"Please open the door?"

I have to admit, I kind of liked that he was begging to talk to me. But he was really starting to get on my nerves. I opened the door once again.

"Patrice, I-" Evan began a sentence.

"I'm not talking to you!" I interrupted, then slammed the door a second time.

"Fine!" I heard Evan shout from outside. "Then I'll just sit out here and wait until you do!" Wow. He was really getting desperate, wasn't he?

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen!" I yelled back.

"Oh, I thought you weren't talking to me?"

...Oops. I had to think of a quick way to avoid that question.

"And I thought YOU weren't a jerk, but look where we are now!" Snap! Oh, that was a good one. One point for me!

"Patrice, I know I was a jerk! But please, just open the door?" Nope. Not gonna happen, buddy. His constant knocking was getting REALLY annoying though.

"Patrice, who's at the door?" I turned around and saw my mom walking down the stairs toward the door.

"Mom, do **NOT** open it!" I replied, blocking her path.

"Well why not?"

"Cause there's a creepy stalker boy waiting outside."

"Well, should I call the police?"

"Mom, I would love that. But no, it's just Evan."

"Well alright then," she said. "I have to go to work soon, so I'm going to finish getting ready." she walked back upstairs, and the knocking resumed once more.

"Evan, seriously, stop it!"

"Uhhh... That wasn't me."

"Oh, well... Who was it then?"

"My friend, Jenny," he said sarcastically, "I don't know who it is! Umm, a woman, short, blonde hair, glasses-"

"This is ridiculous," said another voice from outside, "It's Lisa, Patrice! I'm picking your mom up for work, is she ready?"

"Oh, yeah, just a sec... Mom!"

"Coming!" She replied. As my mom went to answer the door, I stopped her again.

"Wait."

"What is it now, Trice? I have to go!"

"How will you get OUT without you-know-who getting IN?"

"Oh Patrice, that's ridiculous! Now move, please!" She walked past me towards the door. As she walked out, I tried to quickly shut the door behind her. But as I pushed the door shut, another force pushed it in the opposite direction and I stumbled backwards.

"Ha!" Evan said as he pushed the door completely open. Dang it! Now he was in my house! Creepy...

"This is illegal, you know! I could call the police on you," I threatened.

"We both know that you would never do that." What. A. Jerk. He knew me too well.

"Whatever, can you please just leave?"

"Not until you forgive me."

"Well you're gonna be here a long time then," I said bitterly.

"Trice, just let me explain what happened!"

"Oh, I saw what happened. Brianna made a move on you, and you didn't stop her because you're not used to pretty girls making moves on you. "

"Patrice, I can expla-"

"No, I get it," I said, "Poor Evan is stuck with the dorky girl, and he's sad about that because he's CLEARLY far superior to everyone else. I mean, look at you! You're even cooler than Brett!" I said sarcastically.

"Patrice, just because I made a mistake doesn't mean you should start tearing me down."

"But that's the thing, Evan! You didn't make A mistake. If you remember what happened last year, you've made THREE mistakes. Three chances to make it right again, and you've messed up every one of them!"

Evan looked miserable... Good.

"Patrice, I really like you, and-"

"Just go."

Evan opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. He walked over to the door, looked back at me, then left. I immediately started crying again. I wanted to be with Evan, but he made way too many "mistakes" that hurt me. It just wasn't really worth it anymore.

After I finished crying, I went into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. I started comparing my appearance with Brianna's. I usually didn't bother with the way I look, but I was beginning to wonder if that's the reason why Zack kissed Brianna. I was hideous compared to the other girls at school. As I stared in the mirror, I picked out all of my imperfections. My lips were too big, my teeth were square, my skin was pale, my hair was flat, and I had those gosh darn freckles all over my nose. And of course, that realization just made me cry more. I felt dizzy and I had no idea what to do. So I pulled out my phone and texted the only girl I knew who would even consider talking to me right now. Charlotte. Even though Charlotte was part of the popular crowd, she was kind of sweet, so she talked to me sometimes.

**Me:**

**Hey Charlotte. I was just wondering if **

**you could come over to my house for **

**a few minutes? I live on Plains Drive. **

**I need to vent about Evan.**

**Charlotte:**

**venting? im sooo thre! hld on i'll b**

**ovr ina few.**

A little less than 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang.

"Oh em gee, I must know everything!" Charlotte said as she walked in. "Oh, and you look like a mess, honey," she added, sitting down on the couch. Wow, she really knew how to cheer a person up, didn't she?

"Well," I said, ignoring her comment and sitting down next to her. "Evan is being the biggest jerk right now."

Charlotte's eyes got wide. "What happened?" She loved any form of gossip. I'm pretty sure that was the only reason she came over, but at least I had someone to talk to.

I told her everything that happened, starting with the day we saw Brianna and Archie at the diner. When I finished, she said, "Wow. So I guess you've been through a lot in these past few weeks!"

"I know, I-"

"Do you have any strawberries?" She interrupted. "I LOVE strawberries!"

"Umm... Sorry, no."

"Darn."

"Anyway..." I continued, giving her the weirdest look. "I think he might have kissed Brianna because she's prettier than me."

"Aww, come on, Patrice, you're..." She looked at me. "Pretty," she spit out, scrunching her face. I raised my eyebrows. Even though Charlotte was being nicer to me than any of the other cheerleaders ever had, she was still just as judgmental . "You just need a little help," she said, crossing her legs.

"Help? Meaning?"

"Help, meaning, a little makeup," she looked me up and down. "And maybe a new wardrobe," she added. "You know, start the school year big!"

"I don't know, Charlotte, I don't want to start acting like the popular girls. That's never really been my thing."

"You won't! We're just gonna improve your outward appearance a little so Evan will come crawling back to you," she said. Then her eyes got wide again, her mouth opened a little, and her whole face lit up. She let out a high-pitched shriek of excitement. "Let's go to the mall!" She squealed.

I hesitated. "Are you sure that's a good-"

"Sure I'm sure! After all, cheerleaders know best!" She said, jumping up.

"Okay, I guess we can-"

"Yay!" She screamed. Did this girl ever let anyone finish a sentence?

"Now, what money do you have? We're gonna need a lot of it..." She looked at me and scrunched up her face again.

"Well my mom gave me a credit card with like $800 on it, but she said it's only for emergencies."

"Honey," Charlotte began, "This is** definitely** an emergency."

**Alright! There's chapter 7. I think it's the longest chapter so far! I hope you liked it! Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading! :]**


	8. Makeover

**Here's chapter 8! This one starts off in Charlotte's POV, but it jumps around a lot. Enjoy!**

**Xoxo,**

**Charlotte**

*Charlotte's POV*

We went to the mall the day before school started. When we walked in, Patrice looked overwhelmed. I swear it was like the poor girl had never set foot in a mall before! What 8th grade girl doesn't go to the mall every weekend, or at least every other? Apparently this one.

I grabbed Patrice's hand and pulled her into the first store. My personal favorite, Victoria's Secret! Patrice looked as out of place there as I would look on a farm. I had to literally drag her in. I giggled when one of the ladies who worked there measured Patrice for her bra size. It was hilarious, she acted like she was getting a shot at the doctor's!

After we bought a few things there, it was on to the next store- Bloomingdales! This girl desperately needed some Free People and Juicy in her wardrobe. I sifted through the racks and threw Patrice whatever I thought she should try on. So I was basically doing all of the work... You're welcome.

We were in that dressing room for over an hour before Patrice tried something on that actually looked good on her. When she stepped out of the dressing room in that blue BCBG dress, I swear she was another person. My jaw dropped, and then I smiled a huge smile. "Patrice! Look at you!" I had never seen her wear a dress before, and to be honest I don't think she had either.

"Wow," she said, looking in the mirror. "This is... Different."

"You bet it is! In a good way though!" I said. "Now just imagine," I walked over to her as she was still looking in the mirror. I let her hair out of that gosh darn ponytail she wore everyday, and fluffed it to give it a little more volume. "Sexy-licious!" I squealed. She was speechless. I bet she never knew she could look that good! "Now let's go get you some makeup!"

We paid for the dress and a couple others, then headed to Sephora. One of the people who worked there matched her skin tone and everything to find her the perfect set of makeup.

When we were done at the mall, Patrice went back to her house and I went to mine. School started the next day, but I didn't want her getting all prettied up for that. Richie was having his birthday party on Friday night and everyone was invited. I wanted Evan to see Patrice at her best there! After I was finished with Patrice, Evan would be practically on his knees begging for forgiveness! As it should be.

*Patrice's POV*

The first week of school was a disaster. Evan ignored me, and Archie was glued to Brianna, so I had no one to talk to. Knowing Evan, I thought he would've made an effort to try to talk to me by now, but he he didn't even look at me once. One particularly miserable event was on Tuesday when Evan was assigned to be my partner for a Science project. Whenever I tried to be friendly, he just looked down at his desk and started furiously writing. At this point it was hard to tell whether this whole thing was Evan's fault (for kissing Brianna) or my fault (for not letting Evan explain, and assumably breaking up with him). By the time Friday came, I was emotionally exhausted. My two best (not to mention ONLY) friends were completely ignoring me. I was beginning to wonder if Brianna said something to Archie about me...

*Charlotte's POV*

The first week of school was a drag. The most exciting thing that happened was on Wednesday when Lucy stood up on her chair and started yelling at Brett for no reason. Ahhhh, the poor kid. I love Lucy, but she really put him through hell! Anyway, after school on Friday, I got ready then headed over to Patrice's house to help her ("help"... Well that's not a word that's usually in my vocabulary). She got in her outfit and I did her makeup, (she actually looked presentable! Go me!), then I sent out a mass text. Since I rock at texting, my gift to Richie was to get the word out about his party.

**To: ALL CONTACTS**

**From: Charlotte**

**evry1! Richies bday party, ****tonite, **

**7:30, 809 maple ****drive... B thre!**

After that, we both headed over to the party.

"I feel ridiculous," Patrice whispered as we walked into the venue.

"Come on, you look great! Evan's gonna be all over you tonight," I replied. "Just don't give in to him too easily. Make him really work for it!" Oh, yeah, I gave killer advice.

As Patrice was getting a soda, I saw Evan walk in. I smiled and ran over to Patrice. I grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the entrance. "What the-?" She said, spilling her drink a little. "You'll thank me in a minute!" I replied, then I pushed her right into Evan. He turned around and gave Patrice a look. It took him a minute to realize who she was, but when he did, his jaw dropped. And I mean, it DROPPED. Patrice smiled self-consciously.

Right then, Lucy walked in, dragging Brett behind her. I couldn't let her catch me helping people. "You kiddies have fun," I said before I left them alone. Oh, yeah. Miss Charlotte Sophia Connelly, you're going to heaven.

*Evan's POV*

At first, I had no idea who bumped into me. I actually could've sworn that I had never seen her before. But then, she smiled. I could recognize that smile anywhere. Patrice looked beautiful-No, stunning. It was like she was a completely different person. I just stood there like a fool, staring at her with my mouth open.

"You kiddies have fun," Charlotte said as she twirled around, then skipped away.

I finally spoke. "Umm, Patrice, I-I," I stuttered, "Y-you look great." She suddenly got a look on her face, and I could tell that she was remembering about what had happened last week.

"Thanks," she said plainly, then turned and walked away. I had no idea why I didn't make any effort to talk to her all week. I was just digging myself deeper.

"Wait!" I called after her, zig-zagging through the crowds of people. Gosh, since when did Richie get so popular? Probably another one of Charlotte's mass texts...

Anyway, I was zig-zagging. And when I finally found Patrice, I couldn't believe what I saw...

**Ohhhhhh no! There's even more drama ahead! Sorry this chapter was a little short. The next one will be longer, I promise! Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading! :]**


	9. It Gets Better

**Chapter 9! Enjoy :]**

**Xoxo,**

**Charlotte**

**PS- I haven't done a disclaimer in a while, so... Disclaimer: I do not own any part of 13! If I did, JRB would be my husband... Haha, jk jk :]**

*Evan's POV*

I couldn't believe what I saw. Patrice was talking to Lucy. Not only Lucy, but Brett, Molly, and the rest of the gang. Why was she talking to them? And more importantly, why were they talking to her? I felt like jumping off a cliff. And right then, it got even worse. I saw Richie grab Patrice's hand and pull her onto the dance floor! What? Now it was just getting ridiculous. I almost lost Patrice twice, and I wasn't about to let it happen again. So I did the only reasonable thing I could think of. I grabbed the nearest person I could find.

*Patrice's POV*

Lucy was being strangely nice to me. I had no interest in being her friend, but I could agree on being civil with her. After she was done giving me compliment after compliment, (it was really fake), I excused myself to go find Charlotte. I had to leave before things got any worse. But before I could, someone approached me.

"Hey!" A puny little blonde-haired boy said.

"Oh, umm, hey," I said. "Not to be rude, but who are you?"

"Richie... This is sort of my party."

"Oh, right. I knew that." He obviously didn't recognize me, or he wouldn't be talking to me. Wow, this makeover doubled as a disguise.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to drop it low on the dance floor?"

I had no idea what 'dropping it low' was, and I had no interest in finding out.

"I actually have to-" I began, but then I saw Evan sulking in a corner and had to find a quick way to make him jealous. "Okay!"

"Great!" He said, then he grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the dance floor. _Oh my gosh_, I thought. _What did I just get myself into? I don't dance!_

All of a sudden, Richie started doing these wild crazy dances, sort of like he was having a seizure. I tried to follow as best I could, but I just ended up jumping around. Real attractive, Patrice, good going. But it seemed to be working because Evan grabbed Charlotte and started dancing with her, obviously trying to make me jealous. Well, I guess that worked too, because I was beginning to actually miss Evan. But it was ridiculous that he was dancing with Charlotte, so I just grunted and stormed off the dance floor and out into the hallway. I didn't look behind me, but I knew Evan was following. I sat down on the steps and he sat next to me.

"So!" He said.

"So," I replied dryly.

"Come on, Patrice, Brianna kissed me. I know you know that."

"Well she may have kissed you, but you let her. You could have pulled away, but you didn't. Why?"

"Patrice, I tried, it's just-"

I sort of chuckled. "You didn't try! That girl has the skinniest little arms ever, she could never hold you down!"

Evan was quiet.

"Listen," I continued, "You obviously look at the other girls differently than me. It's been a whole year since we met, and it's clear that you don't feel the same way anymore. All those girls from New York, that's who you're attracted to. Going from there to here is a big change, especially in people. I guess Brianna reminded you of that. And I guess we should be friends again, just like it was when you moved here."

"That's not it, Patrice, I-"

"It's fine," I interrupted again. "I just wish you would've told me." Then I got up and walked back into the ballroom. I immediately went to go find Charlotte. I found her doing some wild dance with Eddie. I grabbed her arm and pulled her aside.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I just talked to Evan, and... And..." I suddenly broke out into tears.

"Oh, no, sweetie, not here!" She took me to the bathroom, and I collapsed on the floor. "Well, at least the floors look clean." She said. "So, what happened?"

"I-told-him-that-I-I," I stuttered in between sobs. "I-just-want-it-t-to-be-h-how-it-used-to-b-be."

"As in, just friends?" She asked. I nodded. "But you didn't mean that, right?" She asked again, and I shook my head.

"Patrice!"

"I-I know," I sat up. "I just felt so bitter towards him, and so angry towards Brianna, so I said things I didn't mean." There was a pause. "I think I should just go home."

"Patrice, you can't just-"

"Thanks for all your help, Charlotte."

I got up and walked straight to the exit. I called my mom to pick me up, and the first thing I did when I got home was strip myself of this crazy alter ego. I swore I would never wear heels again. The pain was NOT worth the height. I must've fallen at least 7 times.

The rest of the weekend pretty much matched that night: miserable. On Saturday morning, I called Archie, and after the 6th time of hearing his voicemail ("heyyyy, Brianna here! My little Archie-poo is busy, so please leave a message! Xoxo!" Ughhh...) he finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Archie!"

"Oh... Uh," Archie began. "Just a sec," he whispered. I heard some muttering, shuffling around, and a door close shut before he spoke again. "So, what's up, Trice?" He said. Well, that was weird...

"Umm, I was just wondering if you wanted to walk to the park today? I really miss you and I have a lot to talk to you about."

"Yeah, I need to talk to you too. How about I meet you at the park in about an hour?"

"Okay! See you, Arch!"

"Bye, Trice." He replied flatly.

I hung up the phone. He was acting like he didn't want to talk to me! My life was like a living nightmare.

An hour later, I walked to the park. Archie was already there, sitting on a bench with his crutches leaned against it. He had a contented smile on his face.

"Hey, Arch! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

He looked over at me, and the smile disappeared. "Oh, hey." ...That's all I got? 'Oh, hey'?

I sat down next to him. "Okay, Archie, what's wrong?"

He hung his head. "Brianna ddghjirddcnnbcthi and said bjojvgytrsckmookn. So ajndmkjnfnsbhx hhgfffdssyoon, Patrice."

I laughed. "Okay, I only understood about half of that. Stop mumbling!"

He hung his head lower. "Brianna told me that ahbroknenb hbdhjsbbs and said that if I want to date her, akbwbeknnfbejiwjwnww. So I can't aneoknensbbsbd anymore, Patrice."

"Alright, a little better that time. Try again."

Archie sighed. "Brianna told me that she hates you, and said that if I want to date her, then I have to make her happy. So I can't talk to you anymore, Patrice. I'm sorry."

"Wait... What? Archie, we're best friends! Don't you see? She's trying to control you! Why would you want to be with someone like that anyway?"

"See, Patrice? Brianna is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and you're tearing her down! Now I can see what she sees."

"Archie, she's a girlfriend! Girlfriends come and go, but a best friend is forever! I don't-"

"Well you're not acting like a 'best friend'. Goodbye, Patrice. I'll talk to you... Maybe in another world." He stared dramatically up at the sky, then grabbed his crutches an hobbled away.

Great. I lost my 2 best friends in the matter of 2 weeks. I was absolutely devastated. Archie hated me! And it took me a while to realize, but while I was sitting on that bench, I realized that I needed Evan. I mean, I really needed him. Because... I love him.

-Monday morning-

When I got to school on Monday, the first thing I did was look for Evan. And, of course, I couldn't find him anywhere. I went to the bathroom before homeroom, and Charlotte was already there, fixing her hair in the mirror.

"Hey, Patrice," she said without taking her eyes off the mirror.

"Hey," I said, walking over to the sink next to her. She gave her hair one last fluff before turning to me.

"I see you're back to your old ways," she said, inspecting my appearance.

"Yep," I said, "That whole 'pretty girl' thing wasn't really working with me."

"Ahh."

There was a pause.

"Charlotte, do you think I should just talk to Evan? I really miss him, but he still kissed-"

"Oh, Patrice, get over yourself! He let another girl kiss him, big deal! At least he's sorry! He apologized about 4 billion times. At this point, I think you're the one at fault. You need to talk to him." She grabbed her purse and walked out of the bathroom.

"She's right," I said out loud, then rushed out of the bathroom.

At that point, homeroom had already ended, so I went straight to English. When I walked into the classroom, I saw Evan sitting in his usual seat. We made eye contact and I gave him a small smile, but he immediately looked away. It killed me to sit through that whole class without being able to talk to him, so as soon as the bell rang, I rushed over to him.

"We need to talk."

"It's the middle if school, we can't just ditch class to 'talk'. Plus, haven't you had perfect class attendance since kindergarten?"

"Yes, but you're more important to me than a plastic trophy."

"Hey if YOU'RE willing to ditch History, then sure."

We waited in the hallway until the second bell rang.

"So, umm..." I began.

"I'm sorry," we both said at the same time.

"Wait, why are you sorry?" Evan asked.

"Because I overreacted and never gave you a fair chance to explain what happened."

"Well I'M sorry for not pulling away from Brianna. I was just in so much shock and I didn't know what to do, and," he took my hands in his. "And I love you, Patrice."

My jaw dropped. Literally, to the ground. Then I smiled the biggest smile I had ever smiled. "I love you, too, Evan." He leaned in and kissed me.

"And just for the record, you looked beautiful last night, but I like you a lot better like this."

I lied. NOW I was smiling the biggest smile j had ever smiled. And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, he kissed me again.

**Awwwww! I literally 'awwwwwwed' while I was writing that. LOL, I have no life. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques. Thanks for reading! :]**


	10. Back To The Drama

**Here's chapter 10! The drama's not over yet!**

**Xoxo,**  
><strong>Charlotte<strong>

**Ps- Sorry it took me so long to update! I wrote & rewrote this chapter like three times cause I got stuck. If you have any suggestions for what should happen next, feel free to review!**

*Evan's POV*

Everything seemed perfect. I got my Patrice back, and there was nothing left to worry about. But of course, not everything is what it seems. Patrice quickly pulled away from me.

"Oh my god, I-!" She yelled.

I put my hand over her mouth. "Did you forget that we're sort of ditching class here?"

"Oh, right, sorry," she said. "But what about Brianna and Archie?"

"What about them?"

"Well," she paused. "Evan, while we were broken up, Archie told me that Brianna hates me and that if he wants to date her, then he can't talk to me anymore." She looked down. "And guess who he chose." Her eyes started watering and she tried to hide it by smiling slightly.

"Patrice," I took her hands in mine. "I'm gonna kill them."

"Evan," she said.

"I'm kidding. But it's really not okay. If someone hurts you, I hurt them."

"Well thanks," she smiled for real this time. "But that's not what I'm worried about right now. I'm worried about Archie. We can't let him suffer because of Brianna's crazy ways. If we don't do something, he's going to get hurt."

I groaned because I knew she was right. The drama never ended! Maybe I really could write a book about my life...

"Well?" She asked impatiently.

"...What?"

"My gosh, you need to keep up with my thoughts!" She grabbed my hand and lead me outside.

"Okay, do what class do you have next period?"

"Spanish," I said.

"Alright, I have Health with Brianna, and you have Spanish with Archie."

"So, what should I do?"

"Talk some sense into the kid!"

"Trice, he's whipped! What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, Archie. So basically, your girlfriend is an egotistic maniac who's out to get my girlfriend, plus she's using you. You should dump her'?"

"No, of course not, he would never believe you. Right now, all we need is information. Then, we attack." Patrice squinted her eyes and grinned, thinking about revenge. It was really cute. I smirked and kissed her cheek.

"I still don't understand what you want me to do," I said.

"Ask him as many questions as you can, and I'll do the same with Brianna."

"Are you sure that's-"

"Trust me on this," she said. "I have a plan."

A few minutes later, the bell rang and Patrice and I went our separate ways. When I walked into the Spanish room, Archie was already sitting there, playing some game on his calculator.

"Hey, Archie," I said, dropping my backpack next to the desk across from him.

"Evan," he replied flatly.

"So, uhh, how are things going with Brianna?"

"I dunno, good, I guess," he said, not taking his eyes off the calculator. "Why?"

"No reason, no reason..."

"Oh, really? Cause last I heard, you were making out with my girlfriend at your house."

"WHA-?"

"Okay, everyone, take a seat!" The teacher barked, then started rambling on about something or other.

I leaned to my right. "Archie!" I whispered.

"Oh, sorry, does the player boy have something to say?"

Did Archie just call me a player?

"Yes! Archie, I didn't-"

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something, boys?" Mrs. Shock was staring straight at us with her arms crossed.

"Umm, no, carry on," Archie said. I made sure Mrs. Shock was facing the board before I turned to Archie again.

"Archie, I didn't kiss your girlfriend, she-" I stopped myself, remembering what Patrice said about strictly getting information. Mrs. Shock gave me a 'second warning' face. "Look, we'll talk later, okay?"

"Whatever hovers your spaceship."

Man, this kid was weird.

*Patrice's POV*

I walked into Health class, and Brianna was already sitting there, surrounded by cheerleaders... Good job, Brianna, every guy's dream. Hahaha, good one, Patrice! Anyway, right when I walked in, everyone went silent and all heads turned towards me.

"Well, well, well, look what the bitch dragged in," Brianna sneered, and almost everyone laughed. Charlotte gave me a sympathetic look.

"Umm, I don't understand," I said, clutching my books tighter.

Brianna stood up and started slowly walking towards me. "Remember that fun little conversation we had in Archie's basement?"

I was silent.

"Yes or no?"

"Yeah, I guess," I replied.

"So you remember what I told you, yeah?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, it seems you didn't stay away from Archie, so I did exactly what I said I'd do. I don't break a promise."

I just stood there, staring at her.

"Leave her alone!" Charlotte stepped forward, then immediately regretted it.

"Umm, Char," Lucy stood up. "You're not actually defending her, are you?"

"Oh, uhh, no," she gave me a look that said 'I'm sorry' then sat back down.

"That's what I thought," Lucy gave me her signature eyebrow raise. "So I guess your shot at fitting in ended up backfiring, huh?"

"I have no idea what any of you are talking about. I haven't talked to Archie for weeks!"

"Likely story!" Brianna stepped even closer to me. "If you even think about saying another word to him, I'll-"

"Alright, class, settle down!"

Thank God for teachers. Even though class had begun and no one was allowed to talk, I couldn't avoid all the death glares I was getting. Was Brianna off her nut? As much as I hated it, I had stayed clear of Archie for the past 2 weeks, except for the time at the park. I did nothing wrong and she still wanted to kill me. I couldn't wait for the bell to ring so I could talk to Evan. As soon as it did, I practically ran out of the classroom and bumped straight into Evan in the hallway.

"That went well!" We both said at the same time. I swear, we have some type of brain connection. We better not be related...

"Wait, what happened with Archie?" I asked him as we walked to lunch. He told me about how Archie was convinced that he had 'made out' Brianna.

"So, how'd it go with Brianna?"

I explained her little outburst before class.

"So I guess everyone hates you more than they already did," Evan said.

"Oh, wow, I'm so glad I have such a supportive boyfriend," I said, dripping with sarcasm.

"Sorry, sorry," he said. "So what do we do now?"

"I honestly have no idea. I hate to say it, but if Archie won't listen to us, then maybe he deserves what's coming at him."

Just then, Archie sat down at our table.

"Hey, guys," he said.

Evan gave him a look and I rolled my eyes.

"What's your problem?" He asked.

"Are you seriously asking that?" Evan said. "Archie, ten minutes ago, you were accusing me of making out with your girlfriend, why are you talking to us all of a sudden?"

"I'm still accusing you of making out with my girlfriend, but you said you wanted to talk, so here I am," Archie replied.

I shook my head and got up from the table. Evan grabbed my wrist.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here! I'm not allowed to associate with Archie, remember?" I pulled away from him and left the cafeteria. I felt like screaming. My life seemed to be made up of nothing but drama, caused mostly by other people (cough, cough, Brianna). This time, I had had enough. And it wasn't like me, but this girl had to be taken care of. Maybe, the hard way.

**Alright, that's chapter 10! Sorry it was so dull, it's kind of a filler chapter. Like I said, if you have and suggestions for what should happen next, just leave a review! Thanks for reading, and I PROMISE this story will get better :]**


	11. The Plan

**Wow, I haven't updated in almost 2 months! I've been busy with finals for school and things. So sorry nothing much is happening in this story right now! I'll try to make this chapter as interesting as I can & I'll definitely try to update more often! Thank you so much for your reviews! They really get me motivated :] Anyway, here's chapter 11!**  
><strong>Xoxo,<strong>  
><strong>Charlotte<strong>

*Evan's POV*

"What's her problem?" Archie asked as Patrice stormed off.

"What's her problem? Only that her best friend is ignoring her, and his girlfriend is ruining her life!"

"...Who is?"

I couldn't even answer that. I just stood up and walked out of the cafeteria after Patrice. Who knew Archie was capable of such evil? Well, actually, almost everyone...

"Patrice!" I called her name over & over, searching in the hallway.

I finally found her pacing back and forth by her locker.

"Patrice, are you okay?"

She looked up with a worried look on her face, then ran and hugged me, almost knocking me over.

"Whoa, I'm gonna take that as a no?"

I felt her nod against my shoulder and I hugged her tighter.

"I'm sorry, Trice."

She pulled away and looked at me. "No, it's not your fault," she said. "I just don't know what to do. I keep talking about getting rid of Brianna, but I actually have no idea how to do that. I don't want to be mean."

"There's your problem," I said.

"What?"

"Well, you're too nice. You need to embrace your inner Lucy!"

She laughed. "I have no inner Lucy!"

And that's when it hit me... I had a plan!

*Patrice's POV*

"I have no inner Lucy!" Right after I said that, Evan smirked.

"What?" I asked. He didn't respond.

"Evan, what?" Still no response. He just smiled bigger.

"Alight, you're creeping me out, goodbye!" I turned away laughing, and he grabbed my shoulder and spun me back around.

"I'll tell you after school!" He said. "I have a plan."

We decided to walk to Evan's house after school instead of taking the bus. When we walked inside, Evan's mom was sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Hi, honey," she said without turning around, assuming it was just Evan.

"Hey, mom," he said, dropping his backpack on the floor.

"Hi, Ms. Goldman, how are you?" I said. She turned around and took of her reading glasses. "Patrice? What are you doing here?"

"Mom!"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just thought that you and Evan were...?"

"No," Evan said, smiling.

"Not anymore." I smiled back.

There was a pause and we both just kept smiling.

"Well alright then," she said, turning back to read her book. "Teenagers..." She mumbled to herself.

"Come on," Evan said, starting to walk up the stairs.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Ms. Goldman turned back around.

"Mom, come on, it's daytime!" Evan's face turned red and I tried not to laugh.

She hesitated before saying, "Fine, but just this once! You have an hour, and then you two have to come back down. And no kissing, or touching, or-"

"MOM!"

I couldn't contain myself, I burst out laughing.

"Shut up," Evan said, laughing a little himself.

We both walked upstairs to his room. "I'm sorry about her," he said.

"It's fine!" I said. "So, what's your genius plan?"

"Well, I saw Lucy talking to you at Richie's party."

"And?"

"You need to go back to your makeover, or whatever you call it."

"Ew, no! Why would I do that?"

"If I know Lucy, and I'm pretty sure that I do, she'll start talking to you if you dress like that again. Not because she likes you, but because she wants to embarrass you. Like in Mean Girls."

"...You've seen Mean Girls? I haven't even seen Mean Girls!"

"If you haven't noticed, Archie's taste in movies is bizarre."

I stared at him unconvincingly.

"What? He made me watch it!"

"Uh-huh..." I smirked.

"I feel like you think I'm some sort of gay monkey or something."

I started laughing. "You just made a reference to a chick-flick, you sort of are!"

"I'm about to prove you wrong," he said leaning closer to me.

"Are you?"

He gave me a short kiss on the lips.

"Okay," I said. "You're totally straight, but now you're a rule-breaker. Your mom said no kissing!"

"Right... Anyway, who gave you the idea to dress like that?"

"Charlotte."

"You're friends with Charlotte!"

"We're not FRIENDS..."

"Patrice, this is perfect! Like I said, once you get 'in' with Lucy, she'll do her best to embarrass you, so she'll keep you around, which will only get you closer with Brianna!"

I stared at him for a second, then started laughing again.

"What?"

"You just sound like such a girl!"

"Hey, if you don't want my help, then-"

"No, sorry, I do!"

"So you'll do it?" Evan asked.

"I guess I could talk to Charlotte... But she's friends with Brianna, so what am I supposed to say?"

"Umm... I don't know."

I paused to think. "Ooh!" I said after a minute, then pulled out my phone. "Got it." I immediately texted Charlotte.

**T****o: Charlotte**

** From: Patrice **

**Charlotte, thank you so much **

**for of all of your help! I got **

**Evan back :-)**

**...**

**To: Patrice**

** From: Charlotte **

**omg yay! i tld u cheerleaders **

**kno best ;) u 2 r the perfect **

**combo of geek nd geekier...**

** no offense**

**...**

**To: Charlotte **

**From: Patrice**

** None taken... Anyway, I **

**actually think I'm going to**

** go back to wearing those**

**clothes we got at the mall.**

** Evan seems to like them**

** better.**

**...**

**To: Patrice**

**From: Charlotte **

**ok wutever floats ur boat.**

** but no 1 can kno tht i **

**helped u. my rep is on **

**da line!**

"Alright, done," I said. "Now it's time to be publicly humiliated by Lucy."

**Thanks for reading! I promise I'll start updating more often :] Please review with any comments, suggestions, or critiques! **


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